by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

When LeBron James held court at American Airlines Arena last Tuesday to discuss the superstar showdown that was to come a day later, the Miami Heat star couldn't have been more gracious in his handling of all the Kevin Durant questions.

Let's not forget the obvious here: James, who has won the MVP award in four of the past five seasons and who could tie Bill Russell and Michael Jordan for second place all-time by winning one more, was being asked to discuss and dissect the Oklahoma City Thunder star who is such a serious threat to his Maurice Podoloff trophy throne. He could have said that he'd rather focus on his team. He could have given substance-less answers that cued reporters right away to the fact that he didn't want to actually discuss Durant. Instead, as I wrote on Wednesday, he sounded more like Durant's agent than his archnemesis.

But there was one topic that James wasn't eager to elaborate on that will be germane to the MVP discussion from here until the end, and little did he know that his preference to avoid this particular subject would only make me curious to explore it even more.

Durant's defense.

"Uh, I mean he's more comfortable playing on that side of the floor," James said when asked how Durant's defense compared in relation to the high standards he had set at the small forward position. "I think for them to win, and (forward Serge) Ibaka definitely helps that, and you understand that in order for them to win they have to defend, and it starts with Ibaka and with KD and with (Russell) Westbrook as well. But I don't know. I don't like to talk about defensive players. ... That side of the floor is where I really take a lot of responsibility in and I don't like to do too much comparing when it comes to defense."

Things that make you go hmmm.

So we delve deeper into this question of whether or not Durant should officially be deemed a high-level defender.

What say you, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra?

"He's a multipositional defender now, impacting the game on both sides of the court," Spoelstra said. "Somebody of his length and knowledge and experience, it was a matter of time."

A little more complimentary, but we need another opinion here. Enter the subjective but relevant Thunder coach Scott Brooks.

"It's not like he was not trying to play defense (when he first entered the league in 2007), but when you're young and frail, he was getting pushed around a lot," said Brooks, who was an assistant coach of the Seattle SuperSonics during Durant's rookie year and became head coach in his second season when the team moved to Oklahoma City. "I don't think he gets enough credit for how tough he is. With his body type early on, you would've thought he would've been on the bench more often, or on the floor more often, but I think his toughness has allowed him to improve during those parts of his game when he wasn't physically strong enough to battle and compete and to lock up defensively.

"But I think he's there now. He has really done a great job with our staff of developing, of working on his body‚?¶I think his defense is really good. He doesn't get enough credit because he's such a great offensive player, but we don't have success if he's not defending."

There will be many factors to the final verdict on this fascinating MVP race, from the scoring to the playmaking to the leadership to the overall records to the fact that both James and Durant, to varying degrees, are being asked to dominate while without their respective co-stars. The Thunder's Russell Westbrook, to review, remains out after having knee surgery and had played in just 25 of 47 games entering Friday. The Heat's Dwyane Wade continues to battle knee trouble and had played in 32 of 45 games entering Friday.

But it's the defensive side of the ball where the James-Durant debate is more interesting than ever this season. Because James has been widely regarded as the best perimeter defender in the game for quite some time now, the question of whether Durant could ever surpass him in the MVP race was often tied to the question of whether Durant could ever be considered a two-way player himself. The answer, until recently, was a resounding no.

Yet whether James is in the mood to debate the matter or not, things have most certainly changed on that front. And the fact that their respective defensive reputations are going in opposite directions means that this is an MVP subplot worth paying close attention to.

For starters, the 25-year-old who entered the league as a twig has become more of a sturdy toothbrush - far more solid in the frame and oh-so prickly up top. And as Durant showed in the rarest of matchups with James, the added muscle coupled with his defensive know-how, absurd length and quickness is all adding up to a pesky, and sometimes potent, perimeter presence.

Before we delve deeper into the first of two glorius matchups between the game's best two players (the second is Feb. 20 in Oklahoma City), there are two points worth noting out of fairness to the reigning MVP: 1) Durant had two fouls in the first quarter and, thus, was asked to defend lesser foes quite often from that point on (not, of course, during that magical finish to the third quarter) and 2) James, as he typically does, guarded the other team's best player throughout. Durant finished 12 of 23 from the field for 33 points, seven rebounds, five assists.

Now, to the latest evidence.

James finished 12 of 20 from the field in the Thunder's dominating win on Wednesday, with 34 points in all to go with three rebounds and three assists. But he was just two of seven from the floor when Durant was on duty, far worse than the 10 of 13 shooting performance that came against the likes of Thabo Sefolosha, Perry Jones, Serge Ibaka, Reggie Jackson, and Jeremy Lamb (the latter three matchups happened only because of defensive switches).

It was plainly obvious that Durant's swiping, reaching arms and his ability to keep James from going where he wished on the floor were frustrating factors for the reigning King, just as it was clear that James was more aggressive and more in command when the younger Jones or the not-nearly-as-long Sefolosha defended him. Sefolosha, who is actually 6-foot-7 (as opposed to Durant's protestations of being 6-7) and is widely considered the Thunder's best wing defender, was abused by James several times on the block and blown by repeatedly on the perimeter. There were several examples of Durant's improved defense, but none more impressive than midway through the first quarter.

For 12 masterful seconds, Durant managed to keep James at bay on the left block in ways he never would have been able to a few years ago. Process that for a moment, and you'll realize how far Durant has come on the defensive end.

This was the same Durant who couldn't complete one bench press repetition of 185 pounds when he left Texas for the NBA seven years ago, and the same Durant who likely gives up some 40 pounds to James in the present day. And, yes, this was the same James who is one of the strongest, most athletic specimens on the planet.

No one is saying that James is in danger of being surpassed by Durant as a defender, of course, but the mere fact that the Thunder star has evolved so drastically on that end of the floor is a potential game-changer when it comes to MVP voting. Let it be known, in other words, Durant can defend.